Laura’s Muses

At the end of last year, I was cranking out new designs like crazy, some of them holiday inspired as you’ll see. I was also hired by a friend of mine to make some invitations for her upcoming birthday this summer, so I created some different designs for her to choose from. Since this is probably going to be a large post, I’ve kept the images at thumbnail size, but if you click on them you will see the full size image. Enjoy!

First, a nice bright, spring-y gatefold style invite. The colors hint at a more casual affair, and inserts would just lay loosely inside.

Next, a warm bronze themed invite in a 5×7 single fold style. The enclosures are captured in a matching ribbon. A nice vellum overlay accents the actual invitation card.

Handmade paper made by a local artist is utilized in this simple, earth-y pocketfold invite. The color palette remains neutral, with metal eyelets acting as functional accents and rounding out the elemental theme.

A romantic December wedding in a snowy locale deserves this elegant wrap style invite accented with a sparkle-y snowflake. Inserts lay loosely inside the wrap.

Continuing the winter theme, a Christmas inspired, smaller pocketfold invite is charming and warm with its Christmas tree accents. Delicate snowflake details continue the theme on the inside.

Next, some sample invitations for the afore-mentioned friend. Since it will be a summer event in an area with a beach, I used bright colors and playful patterns to convey the casual, fun feeling of the celebration. Here are two pocketfold style invites…

…and below, two invites with the pocket tucked on the back of the invitation.

A creamy vanilla petal fold invite with a colorful wrap that is cut from the same paper as the inlay. Holiday ornaments and a silver sparkle pattern give the impression of a fun, funky event.

Lastly, a nice elegant silver-striped pocket that features a square window cut-out that shows off the bride’s and groom’s names, enhanced by a contrasting red lining and a snowflake detail. The streamlined design stays low-key with a response card that is attached with a single silver brad.

So it’s that time of year again…the beginning! I’ve decided to blog about my resolutions so that I will be more encouraged to stick to them. At least, that is the hope.

At the top of the list, along with 98% of the population in general, I’m sure, is to get in shape. Chris and I have decided to undertake this together, and have established a plan that works around our very different schedules. I have no excuse, as I rarely have to be at work before noon, not to mention the fact that I only work four days a week. While that time off is not exactly “free time,” I definitely have ample opportunities to take a long walk or hit the gym.

Next is to get my finances in order. I am terrible, horrible, awful at managing money and I need to stop expecting God to fix it just because ‘I tithed more that 10% this week’, or ‘gave $50 to such and such charity’. I need to be the one to undertake this and I am sure He has things He wants to show me and teach me in the process… Luckily Chris has signed on, yet again, to help me out with this.

Once those two are underway, I can concentrate my attention on getting my business off the ground. Chris is working on the website right now, but it will be a little while before it’s finished, so I have no excuse not to be working on resolutions 1 & 2 in the meantime.

Re-connecting with friends and staying connected is fourth on my list. I’m just really bad at returning phone calls and making time to hang out with friends. Laziness and not wanting to be outside of my comfort zone are the main reasons why I let things like that slip…but I need to be more diligent about reaching out and keeping up my end of the friendship.

I also need to work on lots of spiritual stuff, but I won’t go into that here only because I haven’t quite ironed out the specifics yet.

That’s pretty much the list… Friends, wish me luck with mine, and know that I’ll be praying for you and yours!

Another invitation that I custom-designed for a friend of mine:

So lately I’ve been spending time designing and creating custom wedding invitations. Here are some that I’ve come up with so far.

This is a pocketfold design (below), shown here in chocolate ribbed cardstock with a sticker type closure. This was designed for a friend who has a brown/pink theme. It can be customized in other colors with other closure types (ribbon, wraps, buttons, flowers, etc).

When opened, you see the invitation on the right with a vellum overlay. The pieces are tied with a chocolate and pink ribbon. On the left, there is a reception card, reply postcard (folded) and a card with directions and other info. The enclosures can be customized depending on what information the couple would like to include. These cards are tied with the same chocolate and pink ribbon.

The pictures below show the invitation and enclosures in more detail. The invitations themselves can be customized with different fonts, wording, colors, and many other options.

…and below you can see the enclosure cards laid out to show detail.

This bright green invitation is another variation of the Pocketfold style. It shows a ribbon closure and vertical layout.

Below you can see the actual pocket holding the enclosure cards. The use of summer-y, bright colors hints at a July wedding, maybe even in a tropical locale? The pink cardstock used as backgroud has a cool, “wrinkled” texture to it.

The enclosure cards are laid out to show detail. Again, you can imagine how customizing this invite with shimmery, soft paper and minimalistic design would be fitting for a formal type of event, or to coordinate with a different type of theme.

A Wrap style invite, shown with a textured, red paper over a heavy black cardstock. The simple, elegant design would be perfect for a formal or evening event.

The wrap opens to showcase the invitation card. Matching enclosure cards could be included and would lay on top of the invitation.

Below, another variation of the same color scheme in a modified design. Matching enclosure cards could be designed to match, and maybe even tucked into a pocket on the back of the invitation.

A not-yet-finished design, with a Petal type closure. The flaps fold down over each other and could be secured with a wide silver ribbon, or a delicate crystal snowflake.

More to come…